By Claudia Cencini
Imagine a young couple linked by a common passion for “hunting” and truffle dogs. The result is a mix of quality and love for nature that sees Sabrina and Marco as the protagonists of an entrepreneurial adventure that leverages the market of fine black and summer scorzone, in the evocative setting of the Spoleto mountains.
Umbria, land of saints, warriors and… Truffles. In the undergrowth of the Spoleto mountains, the precious black and summer scorzone proliferate, among the types most appreciated by lovers of the precious mushroom. Today, thanks to the incentives and opportunities offered by the new regional PSR calls and subsidies from the truffle supply chain, young people have also taken back the reins of natural truffle grounds, but above all they have made the passion for “searching” an assist to give life to new start-ups or enrich pre-existing companies with innovative offers and strong appeal for a selected clientele. This is the case of Sabrina Muhic, who together with her husband Marco Massaccesi, a “DOC” truffle hunter, has embarked on a path of growth and development through the eco-sustainable use of the family land in Montemartano and its surroundings, recently expanded by the acquisition of other plots for the grafting of new truffle grounds.
The best “partner” is the dog
She is the owner of the Rosabrina farm, also specialized in the production of oil, he is a truffle hunter for passion. Together they have created, starting from the “post-Covid” period, a new entrepreneurial reality based on the collection and marketing of fresh truffles, which cannot be separated from the training of search dogs.
“The relationship with the dog is essential for those who do this job, without a good dog the search is sterile – says Sabrina – I have had a close and emotional relationship with dogs since I was a child, I had an Irish setter as a child from which I had to separate at 12 years old due to family problems, I suffered so much that I promised myself that I would never have a dog again, then life plays strange tricks and thanks to Marco I got closer to the dog world; Today we have six dogs, all females,three that live in the house and three in kennels. For us, among the best hunters there is the Valnerina black griffin, a native breed still little known, an agile, short-haired dog with an infallible nose, even in the snow. The relationship with the dog is based on a deep symbiosis that makes the human-animal couple a whole, but it is essential to know how to intercept the dog’s needs, decipher them and channel them in the right direction, the dog communicates with you and you have to listen if you want to achieve goals and results”.
To enter this sort of “zoopsychology” Sabrina attended training courses that helped her to communicate better with her four-legged “partner”, she obtained the diploma of a CSEN Educator, an ENCI Trainer, and is certified in ‘pull-out’ training techniques. “The skill – she explains – is to move the activity from the ring to the natural, well-trained dogs perform successfully both in the three minutes of search in the ring and in the natural search”.
There are therefore many aspects to take into account in dog training, for which truffle hunting must become a game, a practice that makes them have fun without tiring him.
An activity “in progress”
In recent years, Sabrina and Marco’s business has expanded and continues to grow, expanding their field of action to extra-regional markets, while moving on physical channels that deliberately avoid e-commerce, also given the numbers that do not contemplate at least for now mass production and the type of operation that leverages the trade of fresh unprocessed products.
“Our market – they say – is still a niche and is based on word of mouth and a loyal clientele. At the moment we work on a small scale in the local markett supplying restaurants, wholesalers and private customers, but much more with Tuscany, for example, where the demand for truffles in our area is very high. And, in any case, we are experiencing a phase of evolution that will lead us to be present in other large-scale markets as well.” “Currently,” they confide to us, “we are in a phase of implementation and expansion of the offer, alternating research in natural truffle fields with the use of crops, we have recently acquired three hectares and planted another truffle ground on the mountain.” It must be said that it takes years to make a cultivated truffle ground profitable. “It takes five to ten years – Marco points out – for our four-year-old plantations to produce their first truffles; for the ones carried out just a year ago we will have to wait”. The calcareous and ferrous soil typical of the Martani Mountains lends itself to the development of fine black and summer scorzone in a “fifty-fifty” percentage.
Legislation to be “rejuvenated”
One of the most pressing problems in the truffle sector is the legislation that regulates the sector, which is based on the now anachronistic law 752/1985. Unfortunately, it is necessary to update the framework legislation in the light of the operational and climatic changes that have occurred in recent decades that require a revision of the rules on the collection, production and marketing of truffles. Unfortunately, today, the truffle is not yet recognized as an agricultural product, but what is worse is that the start-ups operating in the truffle cultivation sector get lost in a maze of bureaucratic obstacles that slow down the process.
“The cultivation of truffles – say the young truffle growers – is not yet fully regulated, for example it prevents us from combining, at least for the moment, in a single activity, the practice of truffles with dog training, for which it is necessary to take another VAT number. Fortunately, we have obtained the organic certification of our product, which is a great achievement in itself, but we don’t yet label our product although we do not rule out doing so in the near future”.
“Truffle Experience”, seeing is believing
Sabrina and Marco’s approach to the customer is empathetic and inclusive, in the sense that it is not limited to selling the product, but to making it tangible for those who buy it. Hence the innovative offer of the “Truffle Experience”, a package of offers intended for those who intend to take part in the search themselves, experiencing the thrill of a real truffle hunt, in a hospitable environment where there is no shortage of tastings. Rosabrina has partnered with local farmhouses to give the customer the opportunity to taste the flavours of the Umbrian land and to experience firsthand the thrill of taking on the role of a truffle hunter for a day, in contact with real truffle hunters who offer to be guides for the “Truffle Experience”, A full immersion in the scents of the forest that excites and stimulates those who live it to rediscover the pleasure of contact with the unspoiled nature of the Umbrian woods.
That of Sabrina and Marco is the story of a young couple linked by a common interest in nature and truffle growing: from these young people comes the authentic message that a passion can become a job, you just have to believe in it with enthusiasm, commitment and desire to grow together.
Info: RosaBrina Azienda Agricola
Via dei Mestieri, 22 Spoleto (Pg)
Tel. +39 351 3733397